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Below is a family biography included in The History of Dyer County, Tennessee published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1887. These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary. Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more. There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.
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J. H. Bessent is an enterprising farmer of the First District, and was born in Dyer County, June 5, 1858; was one of a family of two children. His parents were P. R. and Martha Bessent. His father was born in North Carolina in 1833, and moved to Dyer County with his parents when five years of age. His father was a farmer and died in 1868. His mother was born in Dyer County, and was about two years younger than his father. She died in 1866. After the death of his parents, J. H. Bessent lived with an uncle until sixteen years of age, when he became dependent upon his own exertions. He received most of his education at Friendship, Tenn. In 1881 he married Mary E., daughter of E. T. and E. F. Smith. Mrs. Bessent was born in Dyer County, November 28, 1859. They had two children: P. E. and J. F. Bessent. Mr. Bessent then located on his farm of 126 acres of valuable land, nine miles east of Dyersburg, and engaged in farming; but after the death of his father-in-law, he moved on his farm, one mile west of Friendship and has since resided there. Mr. Bessent has always been industrious and successful in farming, and is known as a man of strict integrity and generous impulses: His wife and himself are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South.
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This family biography is one of 128 biographies included in The History of Dyer County, Tennessee published in 1887 by Goodspeed. The History of Dyer County was included within The History of Gibson, Obion, Dyer, Weakley & Lake Counties of Tennessee. For the complete description, click here: History of Gibson, Obion, Dyer, Weakley, and Lake Counties of Tennessee
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